1. Field of Art
This invention relates to fluid testing and more particularly to providing ease of access to fluid lines for measuring parameters of fluid therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many circumstances which require determining one or more parameters of fluid in one or more fluid lines, such as fuel, hydraulic, or air pressure, or coolant temperature, or the like in vehicles such as trucks and buses. For instance, in modern vehicle diagnostics, it is desirable to be able to quickly connect test apparatus to a vehicle and test various parameters on a semiproduction line basis. This may be in final test at the manufacturing facility, or as an adjunct to maintenance of an operating fleet. In the past, it has been known to make quick disconnect electrical connection blocks in mated pairs, one of which is mounted on a vehicle and the other of which is connected to test apparatus; it has also been known to make quick disconnect hydraulic or fluid fittings for matching with corresponding ports attached in a tee configuration to varius fluid lines on the vehicle. The electrical case is easy, but in the case of the fluid lines, there still is a bundle of heavy fluid conduits, such as high pressure hoses, that must be handled in the test bed area. This is extremely cumbersome and can at times be messy. Also, long interconnecting fluid lines frequently have sufficient resilience so as to mask pressure pulses and to cause a delay in pressure or temperature changes which may occur. In addition, the longer a tee connection to a line the more difficult it is to measure parameters such as temperature and the like which are not readily communicated under non-flowing conditions. In most cases, the lines must be bled of all air or other fluid before reading the parameter of a fluid in an accurate fashion. Obviously, if long fluid conduits connecting a vehicle to test equipment, for instance, need be filled with the fluid to be tested from the vehicle, this will result in a certain depletion of the fluid each time that it is tested, at least by the amount required to ensure that the line has been fully purged of air or other fluid.